Hate Crimes Climb in LA County

The Los Angeles County Commission on Human Relations says there were 389 hate crimes reported in Los Angeles County last year -- a 1 percent increase over 2014 following six years of declines.

The slight uptick came as the number of hate crimes statewide decreased nearly 10 percent last year, the Los Angeles Times reported. But the good news for Los Angeles County is that the number of hate crimes reported in 2014 was the second-lowest total in 25 years; the lowest number was in 2013, with 384.

Most hate crimes are never reported, according to the commission.

As in the past, four groups were overwhelmingly affected by hate crimes: African Americans, gays and lesbians, Jews and Latinos. Those groups represented 86 percent of hate crimes, according to The Times. Race was the primary motivating factor (51 percent), followed by sexual orientation (28 percent) and religion (19 percent).

The number of hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation rose 14 percent to 108 last year, with crimes targeting gay men rising 31 percent, The Times reported. The rate of violent crimes based on sexual orientation grew to 81 percent from 71 percent -- the highest rate of violence since 2003.

Christopher Argyros, program manager for the Los Angeles LGBT Center’s Anti-Violence Project, told The Times that violence against LGBT people persists “despite increases in public acceptance.”

“We continue to have a steady stream of hate crime survivors seek services and support,” Argyros said, adding there were 15 hate crimes against transgender people last year, compared to 19 the year before, and that all 15 were against transgender women, and all but one were violent.

City News Service